Ghostbusters barely finds a pulse in Afterlife

I’m a child of the 80’s, so of course I was a ginormous Ghostbusters fan. I’ve seen the original film enough times that I can quote the dialogue word for word while watching it, and enjoyed the sequel too. Needless to say, I was super excited for the new reboot/sequel. Unfortunately my expectations were perhaps a bit too high.

Ignoring the female-led Ghostbusters film of 2016, Afterlife is a sequel to the original duo of films. Set in the present day (37 years after the first film), Egon Spengler has been killed by a ghost (the populace thinks it was a standard heart attack), and his estranged daughter has come to his deserted farmhouse as a last resort. Callie is broke with no other options, so she and her kids, Trevor and Phoebe, are at the farm hoping to get their feet under them. Phoebe is the new version of her grandpa Egon: a nerdy girl who loves science. She isn’t at the farm for long before she starts putting together what is going on. And what is going on is scary.

When the Ghostbusters took down Gozer the Destroyer in the first film, that was not the end of the Sumarian god. She’s been planning a return, this time in the small town of Summerville, OK. This is where Egon’s farm is, and where he’s spent the last 30 some-odd years getting ready to stop her. He’s been on his own, the other Ghostbusters long since moved on to other things. Phoebe finds the trail he left, and recruits her brother Trevor and a couple local kids to become the new ‘busters, hoping to stop the end of the world.

The movie features great special effects, but unfortunately that is one of its only saving graces, at least on its own merits. As a piece of nostalgia, there are plenty of easter eggs for longtime fans, but some of these made me groan more than excite. Don’t get me wrong, there are some clever moments, some fun scenes, and the ending is pretty spectacular, but I spent whole sections of the movie bored. Never a good thing. Maybe I was hoping for more, or maybe I’m just not 5 years old anymore. ★★